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Reb-1 Revolving Cannon
The Confederate Revolving Cannon commonly referred to by the Union, as The Reb-1 Revolving Cannon was a weapon developed and used during the U.S. Civil War. The weapon had a design similar to that of a revolver pistol, scaled up to the size of a cannon. The cannon was replaced in 1866, by the Grunder Gun that was set as the new primary defensive Repeater hand crank machine gun for the Confederate States of America. Despite being replaced, the Reb-1 was still used by Confederate Forces, during the remainder of the war in large areas, and continued service until the Confederacy fell in 1883. History Henry Clay Pate was a former attorney who, during the U.S. Civil War, organized a mounted company that was called Pate's Rangers or the Petersburg Rangers. The innovative Pate designed the revolving cannon, which he had cast at the Petersburg foundry in Petersburg, Va. This cannon was then made available to Pate's unit. The cannon saw use in the siege of Petersburg, Va. It was captured by Union troops at Danville, Va, on April 27, 1883. While innovative, the weapon did not play a significant role on the battlefield during the early years since it was invented in 1861, but started to become more used on the Battlefield by 1884, during the Confederate Counter Attacks against the Union, following Lee's victory at Gettysburg. The cannon was used by the Confederacy from 1864 to 1866, where a new much more powerful mobile Machine Gun was created in order to replace the cannon, but it was revealed that even after the creation of the Confederate Grunder Cannon, that the Reb-1s were still used as far as 1872, and even 1883, revealing that the Reb-1 Revolving Cannons still had a valiant role in the Confederate Army, and were mostly used in defending Confederate strong points, while also being used on offensive purposes. Reb-1's continued service with the Confederate ground forces until the fall of Richmond in 1883. Design he revolving cannon was designed with the goal of increasing the fire rate of a cannon. The design was similar to that of a revolving pistol of the time, consisting of a cylinder which contained the rounds to be fired, with the rotation of the cylinder being used to bring a round into position at the breech of a single barrel. The barrel had a two-inch bore, and the cylinder held five rounds. The cylinders of the revolving cannon were fired using percussion caps. The cap was struck by a large spring-actuated striker. The cannon employed a screw mechanism which pushed the cylinder forward when it was in position. This reduced the gap between the cylinder and the barrel, which significantly reduced gas leakage during firing. A lever attached to a ratcheting mechanism was used to rotate the cylinder. A spring-loaded cog would slip into recesses in the cylinder, holding it in the correct position for firing. Trivia Category:Confederate made fire arms Category:Cannons Category:American Civil War Era